Limpopo Executive Council (EXCO) convened its second Lekgotla since the 22 April national and provincial elections.
The EXCO Lekgotla was held in Polokwane on 27 August 2009. Under the stewardship of Premier Mathale, Lekgotla was attended by the entire provincial executive council, the executive mayors of our six district municipalities and their municipal managers, all heads of department in the province, the chief executive officers (CEOs) of parastatals and representatives of national departments in the province.
Underpinning this EXCO Lekgotla was the evaluation and assessment of the progress made by the provincial government in the implementation of its programme of action over the first quarter of the current financial year, for example, from April to July 2009. In this regard, Lekgotla received an overview report on the overall performance of the provincial government. The reports from the four clusters of the provincial government, for example, social cluster, economic cluster, justice, crime prevention and security cluster and governance and administration cluster were also received. However, the detailed reports of clusters will be provided during the cluster media briefings to be held next week on Thursday, 3 September.
Lekgotla also received a report from the National Treasury on the state of the economy in the country and our province in particular. The report indicates that the economy of our country was hit hard by the global economic downturn as many others throughout the world. Although Limpopo has seen the reduction of unemployment from 32 percent to 29 percent at the beginning of this year, it is highly unlikely to survive the impact of the recession due to the incapacity of the agricultural sector to sustain the existing jobs.
In response to this challenge, the EXCO Lekgotla resolved that there should a provincial economic summit in October 2009. The summit will be preceded by the district consultative summits scheduled to take place over the next three to four weeks. The provincial economic summit will review the current provincial growth and development strategy (PGDS), and adopt a new blue print that will see Limpopo and her people occupy their rightful place in the mainstream economy of the country, the region and the entire continent.
The National Treasury report also highlighted the challenge of insufficient revenue base and related income generating means of the country and provinces as another threat to the economy. To that effect, Lekgotla resolved to reprioritise its programmes and focus more on:
* the building of the capacity of the provincial government in terms of planning
* the building of monitoring and evaluation capacity of both the provincial and local spheres of government and
* the strengthening of the supply chain and contract management systems in order to curb wastage and redirect resources of government towards service delivery programmes.
Similarly, more resources will be committed to capital infrastructure projects as we prepare for 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond. These will include the connection of pipelines from available water sources to needy communities, the speedy electrification to those parts of the province that are still without power supply and, above all, the construction of more roads and expansion sewerage systems.
Health and education have been identified as priorities of this government and to that end, the programme of recapitalisation of more hospitals in the rural areas will be expedited. In the same vein, we will continue with the construction of more classrooms for children learning under trees.
Spending on the non-core functions of the government is another cause for great concern to this government. In this regard, Lekgotla has mandated the Provincial Treasury and other government departments to identify and advice on the non-core functions of government over which austerity measures could be applied.
In terms of the overall performance of government, Lekgotla was unanimous in its appreciation of the work done by the provincial government so far. In the first three months, more than 63 percent of the targets set for that quarter have been achieved. This is attributed to the provincial government’s ability in aligning the electoral mandate, national and provincial priorities.
We are also on the right track in terms of our commitment to contribute our share of 13 percent to the President’s call of creating 500 000 job opportunities by the end of this year. By the end of June 2009 we had contributed no less than 16 201 job opportunities, for example, 15 368 from Expanded Public Works Programme, 120 revitalisation of small irrigation schemes (RSIS), 677 from environmental management and 36 from the filling of vacant posts in various departments. It is worth mentioning that these figures are not inclusive of the contribution by our municipalities. The information in this regard is still being collated and will be made available in due course.
EXCO Lekgotla was also undeterred in its resolve to ensure a corruption free public service. In this regard, the public servants who have been found to be doing business outside the confines of the law will be disciplined accordingly. We shall leave no stone unturned in our effort to uproot corruption in all its ramified forms, wherever and when ever it manifests itself.
We will also be launching the Premier’s hotline and also announce the establishment of the public liaison unit in the Office of the Premier before the end of September 2009. This unit, the hotline in particular, will not only be used to handle and respond to public enquiries, it will become a key service delivery improvement instrument in order to improve the services we give to our people. We call on the people of Limpopo to make use of it for you deserve better.
‘Working together we can do more’
Contact:
Mogale Nchabeleng
Cell: 072 632 8984 or 082 520 8966
Issued by: Limpopo Provincial Government
31 August 2009
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.limpopo.gov.za/)
